For six years, since its insidious formation in 2019, The Resistance Front has unleashed a reign of terror in Jammu and Kashmir, masquerading as a homegrown insurgency while serving as a vile proxy for Pakistan’s state sponsored terrorism. This despicable outfit, a rebranded extension of the notorious Lashkar-e-Taiba, was created in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, a historic move that liberated Kashmir from separatist shackles. Pakistan, desperate to evade the Financial Action Task Force’s scrutiny and mask its role as a global terror hub, concocted TRF to deceive the world into believing that Kashmir’s terrorism is a liberal fight for freedom. But India, resolute and unyielding, has exposed this nefarious plot and with the United States’ designation of TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the international community is finally piercing through Pakistan’s treacherous rebranding of terrorist groups as indigenous movements, recognising TRF for what it truly is: LeT’s bloodthirsty shadow.
The abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in August 2019 was a triumph for India, dismantling an outdated framework that fuelled separatism and hindered Kashmir’s progress. Pakistan, however, saw this as a direct challenge to its decades long campaign to destabilise Kashmir through terrorism. With the FATF’s grey-listing in 2018 threatening economic sanctions for its terror financing, Pakistan’s ISI hatched a sinister plan to rebrand LeT, the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that martyred 166 innocents, as The Resistance Front. Launched in October 2019, TRF was a diabolical attempt to pass off Pakistan’s jihadist militancy as a secular uprising against India’s progressive reforms. This was no mere name change but a calculated act of deception to fool the world and prolong Pakistan’s proxy war against India.
Pakistan’s deep state orchestrated a strategic communication campaign to portray TRF as a resistance against alleged “demographic changes” in Kashmir, falsely claiming that India’s policies threatened Kashmiri identity. By adopting a non religious name, unlike LeT’s overtly jihadist branding, TRF sought to dupe global audiences into believing its terrorism was a noble struggle for liberty. This was a shameless lie, designed to whitewash Pakistan’s role as the epicentre of global terrorism while evading FATF sanctions. The world, however, is no longer blind to this subterfuge. Nations across the globe, led by India’s relentless diplomacy, are awakening to the reality that TRF is not a grassroots movement but a terrorist outfit, wholly controlled by LeT and ISI. The international community now sees through Pakistan’s audacious rebranding of radical terrorist groups as liberal, homegrown insurgencies, recognising the deep state’s hand in perpetuating violence under a false veneer of legitimacy.
From its inception, TRF has targeted innocent civilians to sow terror and undermine India’s vision of a peaceful Kashmir. In 2020, it launched a vicious campaign, using sleeper cells to strike at the heart of Kashmir’s pluralistic society. In October 2021, TRF cold-bloodedly murdered Makhan Lal Bindroo, a beloved Kashmiri Pandit chemist in Srinagar, whose only crime was serving his community. Days later, the group gunned down Supinder Kaur, a Sikh school principal and Deepak Chand, a Hindu teacher, in a heinous attack on educators striving to uplift Kashmir’s youth. In 2022, TRF’s brutality continued, with an attack in Shopian martyring Sunil Kumar Bhat, a young Kashmiri Pandit and targeting non local labourers to drive them out of the valley. These cowardly acts were not resistance but terrorism, aimed at shattering communal harmony and intimidating minorities.
To lure impressionable Kashmiri youth, TRF resorted to whimsical propaganda, glorifying its sleeper cells with names like “Falcon Squad” and “Gazelle Squad” to romanticise its bloodlust. This was a desperate bid to radicalise young minds and perpetuate Pakistan’s cycle of violence. But Kashmir’s resilient people saw through this facade, rejecting TRF’s overtures and condemning its atrocities. Protests erupted across the valley after its attacks, with Kashmiris denouncing the group as a foreign backed menace. TRF’s failure to gain local support exposes Pakistan’s disconnect from the Kashmiri populace, who yearn for peace and progress, not the chaos peddled by ISI’s proxies. The world now sees this rejection as evidence of Pakistan’s failed attempt to cloak its terrorism in the garb of Kashmiri aspirations.
In 2023, India rightfully banned TRF as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, unleashing a relentless crackdown on its networks. The security forces, with unparalleled bravery, dismantled TRF modules, eliminating 108 of 172 militants linked to the group in 2022 alone. Yet, TRF’s handlers in Pakistan persisted, using social media platforms like Telegram and Facebook to spread venomous propaganda and recruit vulnerable youth. The group’s use of body cameras to record its atrocities for online dissemination is a chilling testament to its depravity, blending technology with terror to intimidate Kashmiris and glorify violence. The international community, now alert to Pakistan’s tactics, recognises these acts as the hallmark of a terrorist state, not a supporter of so-called freedom movements. The pinnacle of TRF’s barbarity came on April 22 this year, with the horrific attack in Baisaran Valley, where 26 civilians, including two foreigners from Nepal and UAE, were massacred. This was the deadliest civilian attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai carnage, a grim reminder of LeT’s bloodthirsty legacy.
India’s tireless efforts to unmask TRF culminated in a historic victory, when the United States designated TRF as an Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224. The U.S. State Department’s statement unequivocally exposed TRF as an LeT front, responsible for the Pahalgam attack and earlier assaults, including a 2024 attack in Ganderbal that martyred a doctor and six migrant labourers. For India, this was a vindication of its unwavering stance against terrorism, proving that TRF is no freedom movement but a Pakistani orchestrated terror machine. It’s time for the global community, from Europe to the United Nations, to now align with India and reject Pakistan’s deceitful rebranding and demand accountability for its role in fostering terrorism.
Since 2019, The Resistance Front has been Pakistan’s weapon to destabilise Kashmir, cloaking LeT’s jihadist agenda in a false narrative of indigenous resistance. Its secular branding is a sham, its attacks on civilians a betrayal of Kashmir’s spirit and its propaganda a desperate bid to mask Pakistan’s role as a terror sponsor. The world has finally opened its eyes, seeing TRF for what it is: a murderous extension of LeT, propped up by Pakistan’s deep state to wage war on Indian state. India stands tall, exposing Pakistan’s lies and dismantling TRF’s networks with iron resolve. The U.S. designation is a clarion call for nations to join India in crushing this menace. Pakistan’s sinister plot to sow chaos in Kashmir stands exposed and India will not rest until TRF, LeT and their ISI masters are fully unmasked.
Unmasking Pakistan’s Terror Deception
